01 February 2006

Putrajaya by night has been a sort of goal for me for sometime now. Last year, while still in Bangkok, I promised to take some pictures of Putrajaya and Cyberjaya for Nawin, who had developed a sense of respect/admiration for Malaysia through the many contacts he had with Malaysians. I'm glad there are great ambassadors out there who do us all proud.

I did a photo blog for him in the old blog, which featured Putrajaya and my golfing misadventures at the UPM Golf Course. Nawin, of course, was happy to see those photos and also read the photo blog, but we both agreed that it would be best if we had some night scenes as well.Thus begun my quest to make time for a photo shoot at Putrajaya during the night. I made up my mind to do this today, both for Nawin and for some of my imaginary readers who may not have seen these views before ..

It nearly didn't materialize ... I woke up from a rare afternoon nap to find this ...

... which nearly meant there was to be no shoot tonight. However, after dinner, a phonecall to someone living in Putrajaya confirmed the rain had stopped !! Woohoo !! Photo shoot is ON. Yays !!

So here are my selected shots - I had wanted to post them to my Photobucket and link them from there, but the darned thing had failed to load anything the last 2 days. Hoi - Photobucket - work or not one ?

The Putrajaya Mosque, the Prime Minister's Department, and Putrajaya Holdings, all seen from the Seri Wawasan Bridge, reflecting pristinely on the waters of the Putrajaya Lake.

And here, a much closer look of the mosque and the PM's Department. It's not in the picture, but there's a palace just to the right of this picture, belonging to the Sultan of Selangor, but it's not lighted, which I find hard to believe. It's a pretty nice building, too bad I can't capture any of it during the night time. It wasn't lighted the last time I visited either.

The government offices in Precint 1, the New Millenium Monument, and the Seri Saujana bridge all from the Seri Wawasan Bridge. There's actually another bridge which is under construction just ahead of the Seri Saujana Bridge, which accounts for a little dark shadow right in the middle of the Seri Saujana bridge in this photo.

This is taken from the Precint 1 promenade, which is basically a lakefront walk right next to the Putrajaya Square/Putrajaya Mosque area. I chose the angle to use the New Millenium Monument to cover the brige under construction. In case you've noticed, yes, the New Millenium Monument changes color frequently, which accounts for the different colors you see it in different pictures.The famous Seri Wawasan bridge, subject/background/location of many ads and photoshoots. Beautiful.

The dome of the Putrajaya Mosque.

The PM's Department building, a landmark of Putrajaya. This building is oriented in such a way that it overlooks all the other government department buildings in Precint 1. Due to the many lights beamed in my direction, I had to underexpose the pix so that it won't look too bright.

Well, I guess it was a photo shoot worthy of the RM2 toll and the drive. Mision accomplished. I hope Nawin will like what he sees ;-) - Suai Mai ?

To knowledgeable Malaysians, I'm posing this question: Is it Putra Jaya (as in Petaling Jaya) or is it Putrajaya (as not in Petalingjaya)?